Some people are trendsetters. I'm a trend-fretter. I'm an airline futurist, i.e., someone who studies, forecasts, and yes, frets about where the industry is headed. In fact, in my role as director of airline distribution strategy for Amadeus in North America, I am constantly analyzing trends that will define tomorrow. Amadeus is a leader in supplying tomorrow's technologies to air carriers seeking to replace outdated systems. Adopting these technologies translates into a better experience for fliers. In fact, Amadeus's futuristic new Altéa passenger management system lets airlines for the first time systematically recognize (and serve) passengers as individuals and meet their personal preferences. I foresee a time when all the large American carriers will be able to access a passenger's entire flight history with that airline (and its alliance partners) at every customer service 'touch point' of their trip. My focus is on the airport travel experience, which, remarkably, is still shaped by airline data processing systems designed in the 1970s. While the world has moved on, many airlines using those outdated systems are struggling to deal with more people, more bags, and more security. The new Amadeus technologies being adopted by carriers like British Airway, Qantas, Finnair, and, in the near future, by United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Star Alliance, streamline every imaginable aspect of flying, from booking to baggage. Understanding where the industry has been is key to prophesizing where it is going. My 10-year background with Miami-based Amadeus North America combines expertise in the fields of corporate-direct, supplier-direct, airline, and hotel online sales, and travel distribution. It's an industry on the cusp of change. Today I analyze and develop distribution solutions that best serve the strategic objectives of Amadeus’s airline customers in North America. My job is to align the airline distribution strategies of Amadeus with those of its carrier customers — broadening the reach of the now-popular "value based" services method that Amadeus pioneered.
http://www.fastcompany.com/user/robert-buckman
